Remarketing

Kelley Blue Book Adds Automotive Content to Website

November 14, 2002

Kelley Blue Book announced it has signed an agreement with J.D. Power and Associates, IntelliChoice, and Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S., publisher of Car and Driver and Road & Track, to produce new automotive information for its Web site, www.kbb.com.

Kelley Blue Book plans to offer J.D. Power and Associates’ vehicle ratings for more than 2,700 vehicles, including ratings for quality, long-term reliability, performance, and style. Visitors to the Web site will also be able to research specific vehicles using Car and Driver and Road & Track’s road tests and reviews. The Web site will offer a link to Car and Driver’s website, allowing users to read what owners say about their cars, as well as post their own reviews on the site. IntelliChoice offers "cost of ownership" information to consumers researching new cars. This tool compiles the average amount of money it costs to own and operate a vehicle over a five-year period, factoring in depreciation, financing, insurance, and other fees.

Kelley Blue Book expects to have the new content available on the Web site by the end of the year.

Remarketing

Vehicles that were taken out of commercial, government, and daily rental fleets and sold at auction in July were worth 8.1% more than they were a year ago and 0.4% more than in June, according to Tom Kontos, KAR Auction Services' chief economist.

Used vehicle sales continued their strong performance in the wholesale market in July, as an "abnormal bounce" that began in June continued to show strength with overall values increasing in July 1.51% from the prior month, according to Manheim.

As an example of this analysis, Black Book data shows that the Toyota FJ Cruiser, whose last model-year was 2014, has actually gone up in value by 25.7% compared to other vehicles that were listed in its segment.

Off-lease fleet vehicles sold in the wholesale market at auction fell 1% in value in June from the prior month but increased 7% from a year ago, according to Tom Kontos, KAR Auction Services' chief economist.

Wholesale vehicle prices for former fleet vehicles at auction increased 0.8% in May from April and have increased 6.8% from a year ago in a "seasonally strong" market, according to Tom Kontos, KAR Auction Services' chief economist.

The initiative began in 2014, when the company first announced that its $400 million multiple-year project to transform its auction operations. In that time Manheim brought enhancements to both its physical and digital properties.

Wholesale prices for used vehicles up to 8 years old fell 1.7% month-over-month in May, a level that’s typical for this time of year, according to J.D. Power’s June Used Car and Light Truck Guidelines. Auction volume up 12% month-over-month, 2.6% year-over-year.

The Mercedes-Benz C-Class topped a list of the most recalled cars in recent model years, while the Hyundai Accent was the least-recalled vehicle during the same period, according to a report on ISeeCars.com.

Used compact vans and several categories of crossovers increased in value in wholesale sales, while luxury vehicles made up seven of the 10 lowest performing categories among 2013-2017 vehicles in May, according to Black Book.